Ugly Betty Anti-Gay? Are You Kidding Me?
November 5, 2008 by Tom
There has been a lot of talk the last few days of ABC being on some kind of anti-gay crusade with moves at its shows and that Ugly Betty is part of it. I don’t know enough about the former, but I can tell you that the latter is ridiculous in the extreme.
Some background: on Grey’s Anatomy, lesbian couple Callie Torres and Erica Hahn were broken up, with Hahn leaving the show. Full disclosure: I don’t not watch Grey’s (I know many of you do). I’ll leave it to others to determine if the move was creative or part of some gay-character purge.
There is also talk of other changes in shows like Brothers and Sisters. Once again, I don’t watch many other ABC shows besides Ugly Betty and DWTS. It had always been my understanding that ABC has been, by far, the most gay-friendly network of all.
Maybe there’s something to the complaints. But to claim, as many have, that Ugly Betty is part of some anti-gay crusade, because of the demotion of Rebecca Romijn (and her transgendered character), and the firing of (gay) writer/director Marco Pennette just makes the accusers look silly.
Let me make something perfectly clear: removing Romijn from major character status is due to three things:
- Romijn is very pregnant. Her character is transgendered. Although UB is an over-the-top soap, how the heck could the writers make that situation work?
There were creative problems. - Several producers have said that Alexis’ story lines were wearing thin, and there was nowhere new to take the character. I agree with the former, and only partially with the latter. But, I trust the writers when they say they were running out of things for Alexis to do. I think that’s why she vaccilated between being good and evil or the last 9 or 10 episodes.
- Every major move in the show the past 7 months or so has been part of producer Silvio Horta consolidating power and flexing his muscle. Silvio has been very up-front about this; he felt the show had lost its way and needed to get back to it’s “heart” from season 1. Personally, I like where he’s taking the show, but others might disagree.
For you newcomers, Silvio Hiorta, the man with most of the power surrounding Ugly Betty, is himself, gay.
Every major storyline in the show has a gay character (I count Daniel/Wilhelmina, because Marc is always shadowing Willy). Ugly Betty introduced the first gay character that I can remember (Cliff), who wasn’t a stereotype. A gay, fat slob? I’ve known a few, and his character is as refreshing as he is realistic.
And don’t get me started on Justin. Has there ever been a character like him on television? Are the critics blind? If you asked me four years ago if there would ever be a gay child coming of age on TV, I would have said :impossible. Horta has been subtle but revolutionary with the character Justin.
I can’t speak of the other ABC shows. But to lump Ugly Betty in with criticism of ABC for an anti-gay bias is just plain silly.
Well, Betty is pretty gay: u got marc and cliff, justin is bound to come out of the closet, silvio horta is gay and the concept of the show attracts … well, gay people.
And Grey’s maybe shutting down a lesbian storyline, but another huge ABC show has had a few ‘gay’ storylines in the past and is still having some: Desperate Housewives! Andrew and Justin in the past (and still a bit nowadays) and Bob & Lee as neighbours on Wisteria Lane. So i don’t really mind that they shut down the lesbian storyline on Grey’s, there are plenty of gay related shows on ABC!
Hi Tom, great post. I wholeheartedly agree that ABC generally seems “gay-friendly,” until this point.
However, I don’t think it’s “silly” (nor do I really think anyone looks “silly”) for including Ugly Betty/Rebecca Romijn in the group. The ideas people are having are based on changes that several ABC shows have undergone (or are currently undergoing) - not merely what one show (Grey’s Anatomy) has done. It’s because of the departure of other gay/bi/transgendered characters on other ABC shows that this new development of Grey’s (getting rid of Brooke Smith) is so in the spotlight.
Too, the changes don’t seem to be coming from the writers, producers, etc. of these shows. They seem to be coming (according to entertainment news sources, so, everyone has to be his own judge) from the much higher ups at ABC. If that’s true, I don’t think Silvio Horta’s sexual orientation would play much of a role in what the higher ups at ABC want. At the same time, it could always be that ABC is “okay” with homosexual characters, but not transgendered ones (re: Carmelita from Dirty Sexy Money). And, if that’s the case, people would be left looking for another reason why Brooke Smith had to leave.
In any event, I don’t think anyone is using the change with Ugly Betty/Rebecca Romijn as solid evidence that ABC is being “anti-gay.” I think it’s more of an example of “Hey, wait a minute…this kind of character departure seems to be happening network-wide…remember Ugly Betty?”
I don’t think it’s silly at all. There may be solid reasons behind Romijn’s leaving, but it doesn’t change the general attitude of the higher ups (higher than gay producer btw)
OK, silly was probably the wrong word (somtimes my southern-isms don’t translate well to written form).
As I said, I don’t know enough about the ABC suits, or the other shows, to give an informed position on a supposed gay purge by ABC as a whole.
However, I know Ugly Betty pretty darned well. I covered both the Penette firing and the Romijn demotion in depth last year. I can say with a pretty good amount of certitude that neither decision came from ABC corporate.
Horta was up front - he took a humongous (but much needed) risk - those two things were only a small part of the overhaul.
The timing isn’t right, either - the decision on Romijn happened last season (coincidentally, about the time she got pregnant). The firings on the other shows seem to be more recent.
@ Jack - I forgot about Bob & Lee! They need more of a storyline, don’t they?
@ Tom - Hey, I’m southern, don’t sweat it, ha. Anyway, I’ve included an “edit” to my post to reflect your knowledge about Romijn’s situation. Thanks!
i personally don’t think the pennette firing had anything to do with this sexuality- rather it was a creative decision in terms of the direction of the show, which a lot of fans were unhappy with, with regards to season 2
Regarding the character of Justin Suarez: “Revolutionary”, absolutely. “Subtle”, I don’t think so. Justin is a character that I couldn’t have even dreamt of when I was his age, but he gets less and less “subtle” every week.
And in my previous comment, I’m not saying that Justin’s lack of subtlety is a bad thing.
@-I get what you’re saying. Sometimes I’m not sure if Ugly Betty shows gay characters, and yet pulls back and make them stereotypical and a humor device because having “serious” gay characters might be too much for the audience, especially if one is a kid. Marc and Justin are both like that. Cliff isn’t though, so that’s good….
I doubt ABC is purging though. Ugly Betty has been on for 3 seasons, and the other shows are well-received. Suddenly purging is not just not inline with what they endorsed (well…shown on their channel), but risky. Fans will speak up.